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Metal By Numbers 4/7: Oh What A Slow Week For Metal

By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week as well as what’s getting played at metal radio courtesy of radio trade magazine FMQB, whose metal panel consists of about 80 college and commercial stations that have metal shows, as well as SiriusXM, Music Choice, and more.

Calling the first week of April a slow one for metal releases may be an understatement. This past week saw barely any metal debuts. The only debut that is really worth mentioning is former Hole/Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur’s sophomore solo album Out Of Our Minds. And after listening to the celtic alt rock album’s title track, I’m led to believe that the only metal thing about it is her duet with Glenn Danzig on the song “Father’s Grave”. Besides the lack of debuts and a few increases in the usual suspects, this week also saw many metal releases drop off the top 200, including Mudvayne’s self-titled release (which hanged around for a while since its Winter release). Woe Of Tyrants topped FMQB’s most added, while The Dillinger Escape Plan reign over FMQB’s top ten.Notable Debuts:
Melissa Auf Der Maur, Out Of Our Minds (MAdMMusic) 780 sold
The ex Hole/Smashing Pumpkins bassist’s new solo record isn’t really metal. But the album does feature a duet with Glenn Danzig on the song “Father’s Grave”. Plus, MetalSucks wrote a funny article about her!

Notable Sales:
The Scorpions, Sting In The Tail (Sony BMG) #109 5,800 sold
Big decrease in their second week, 69% decrease to be exact. But the album’s first week still has us in shock.

Alice In Chains,Black Gives Way To Blue (Virgin) #118 5,300 sold
A slight increase from last week. This album will probably continue to selling in this range

Motley Crue, Greatest Hits (Motley Records) #134 4,400 sold
The 31% increase is sad proof that greatest hits albums will sell even if you have already put out a million compilations in the past.

Them Crooked Vultures, Them Crooked Vultures (DGC/Interscope) #106 4,120 sold
Slight drop, but the super group’s debut is still selling.

Slipknot, All Hope is Gone (Roadrunner) #150 3,800 sold
Still hanging in there tight, with 921,000 sold. This one’s going platinum, trust us.

Rob Zombie, Hellbilly Deluxe 2 (Loud and Proud/Roadrunner) #151 3,800 sold
Around the same as last week, but starting to slip off the top 200 faster.

Five Finger Death Punch, War Is The Answer (Prospect Park) #156 3,800 sold
I thought there was a slight chance the album had slipped off this week. Why did I ever doubt?

The Dillinger Escape Plan, Option Paralysis (Party Smasher Inc., Season Of Mist) #200 2,760 sold
Just made it to the top 200! A 67% decrease lowers them down in their second week, but still great for a band with their own label imprint.

Overkill, Ironbound (E1) 890 sold
Slight increase for the thrash legends this week. Their upcoming Fall tour with fellow elder thrashers Forbidden will see Overkill continue to tour in support for this album.

Armored Saint, La Raza (Metal Blade Records) 660 sold
A 34% decrease in the album’s third week out. It’s dropping slowly but still hanging in. I could make a joke about how the band survived a “Left Hook From Right Field”, but I’ll spare you the nausea.

News Ticker

A Pale Horse Named Death, the project featuring former Life Of Agony and Type O Negative members will release their new album When The World Becomes Undone on January 18th, 2019 via Long Branch Records/SPV. Today (14th), the group are streaming the new song “Vultures.” Check out the track below and pre-order the album here.

Blink-182’s Travis Barker’s Musink festival will return in March at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. The event is scheduled to run from March 8th-10th as Suicidal Tendencies and Limp Bizkit will be next year’s headliners. While we are still waiting for a third headliner to be announced, other acts include Hatebreed, […]

KoRn guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer joined Hyro the Hero onstage earlier this week (4th) during Hyro’s performance at the Viper Room in Los Angeles, CA. Shaffer’s surprise guest appearance was for the song “Devil In Disguise,” taken from Hyro’s latest effort Flagged Channel. Check out the fan-filmed clip below: [via Revolver]

It looks like Mastodon are working on their follow-up to 2017’s Emperor of Sand. Drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor shared an image via Instagram of himself and guitarist Bill Kelliher confirming new music is in the works. Check out the image below: View this post on Instagram […]

Machine Head’s Robb Flynn has revealed he will perform at Stars to the Rescue XXVIII, which is scheduled to be held on January 26, 2019 at Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA. Flynn will have a 30 minute performance as he announced his participation in the below video: Tickets are available at […]